This present invention relates in general to furniture construction but more particularly, it concerns with modular and convertible furniture, employing a modular multi-purpose framework structurally designed introducing a novel corner assembly and a slanted finger joint for use therewith.
Modular furniture is fast becoming the life style of modern countries. Its versatility uniqueness of design and cost lends itself to furnishing any apartment, home, office and other commerical or institutional building immediately and in good taste.
However, it was observed that these prior known designs have generally been subject to various difficulties. Some have been unduly complex and the excessive use of materials so that they become expensive and hard to move; others are difficult to assemble wherein it require extra fastener or clip to connect one element to another or even by the use of cumbersome tools and that it is hard to convert instantly for another desired function; and others of this type formed of wood have been of poor and ordinary structural design so that they are fragile and cannot take normal stresses, more to the fact, that in the design of low cost furniture the size of the structural members are comparably smaller.
Thus for specific example is a structural design formed of wood involving a corner assembly wherein a longitudinal member and adjacent transverse member are mounted on the topmost portion of the vertical member by means of mortise and tenon joint. Said joint is generally constructed with the vertical member provided with mortise or holes on its adjacent face wherein the reduced end or tenon of said longitudinal and transverse member is inserted forming thereon a unitary structure. The objection with this type of construction is that the joint is not strong enough and that it is fragile owing to the fact that the effective joint shoulder is very short, and the effective glueing area is comparably small. In the design of a low cost structure as mentioned above, said joint or corner assembly became structurally impractical. However, since a corner assembly is always encountered and that it is very convenient in furniture construction, several types of joint couple by using an extra size structural members has been continually used like: dowel joint, combination miter and half lap joint or even with the use of a metallic furniture fittings, but still no solution have been so successful that improves greatly the strength of the said corner assembly. Another example of ordinary structural design formed of wood is a widely used ordinary finger joint which is defined by interlocking end of the adjacent members, said member preferably rectangular in cross section laterally the wider face in contact of each member is positioned at right angle with respect to each other and being formed with a plurality of fingers that are cut in the material from which the member is formed at the end thereof and in the areas of the interlocked. Again, the objection with said finger joint is that it is not conveniently applied in structural design wherein a corner assembly is concerned. Furthermore, small members become flexibly weak and the joint is absolutely fragile for some reason that the effective joint shoulder is short and the effective glueing area is also small.